Island



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.v

J. C. POTTER.

EVENING MECHANISM POR COTTON OPENERS, zc.

No. 399,077. Patented Mar. 5, 1889.

lill IHIIIHH 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

J. C. POTTER. EVENING MBGHAMSM FOR GOTTON OPBNB'RS, 65e.

,077. Patented Mar. 5, v1889.

Unirse Starts artnr Ormea.

JAMES (l. POTTER, OF PAIYTUCKET, RHODE ISLAND.

EVENING MECHANISM FOR COTTON-OPENERS, doc.

SPECIFICATION' forming part of Letters Patent No. 399,077, dated ll'areli 5, 1889.

Application filed January 29, i889- Serial No. 297,907. (No model.)

To all whom t 72mg/ concern:

Beit known that I, JAMES C. POTTER, oi' Pawtucket, in the State of Rhode Island, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Evening Mechanism for CottonOpeners, dto.,

vot which the following' is a specification,

My invention is directed to that portion of the evening mechanism ot' machines for opening and preparing cotton, &c. which is usually known as the scale-lever system, consisting of a series of levers connected on the one hand to the individual evcner-plates and on the other hand to the instrumentalities whereby motion is imparted to the bolt-shipper of the conedrum belt.

In my application for Letters Patent tiled in the United States Patent Ottico July 9,

1888, Serial No. 279,3Q5,I have described and claimed a scale-lever system having the scalelevers beloivsuspended from those next above, the topmost scale-levers being suspended from the evener-a-rms and the lowermost or main scale-lever being connected to the belt-shipper-actuating mechanism.

My present invention is analogous to that embraced in my application aforesaid, in that the instrumentalities which do the Work of the scale-levers are suspended in connected series; but it differs therefrom in that I do away with scale-levers and employ in lieu 4 much ot a cotton-opener as is needed -to illustrate my invent-ion. In this figure the parts are represented diagrammatically in great measure with avieW to indicate the relation which my improvementbears to the other parts of 'the evener system, which parts are Well known to those skilled in the artto which my invention pertains and require no detailed illustration or description for the purposes of l 5 is a view of one of the `forked ends of the cross-bar to be used in said modification.

My invention is applicable to various forms of cotton-openers and the like. The form ot machine'in connection with which I have illustrated my invention is that which is shown in a general Way in my application for Letters Patent, Serial No. 279,395,11ereinbefore referred to.

A is the frame of the machine. B isa combined evener and feed-roll supported in fixed bea-rings. C is a feed-rollsupported in yielding bearings and cooperating with roll B for feeding purposes. Dis one of a number of evener-plates, each having an arm, D. E is the knife-edge bar on which the evencr-plates are tulcrnmed. These parijs are arranged together substantially in the same Way as described in my aforesaid application, Serial No. 279,395.

G is the shipper, which controls the belt I-I of the cone-drums I J, motion being transmitted to the shipper from a rock-shaft, d', on which is iixed a toothed sector that plays through a slot in the front wall of the conedrnm box and engages thel rack-bar L, fixed to said shipper, all substantially as described in my application for Letters Patent Serial No. 297,561, tiled January Q8, 1889. This rockshatt has on it a sector, c, which by a strap, b, and link u. is connected to the lowermost curved bearing-piece of the system in which my invention, as hereinbeiore stated, is comprised. On the rock-shaft is iixcd a Weighted lever, e, by which said shaft is normally influenced to keep the system of curved bearing-pieces and supliiorting-straps taut and to hold the evener-plates with yielding pressure against roll B.

I-Iaving described the machine in a general way sufficiently to enable my improvement to be understood, I now proceed to a more par- IOO ticular description o'll that portion of the mechanism in. which my present invention is coinprised, said portion bein g between the evenerarmspon the one hand and the link and strap a l) on the other hand.

The number of evener-plates employed varies in different machines.1 Some have eight plates, others have sixteen. In the present machine there are supposed to be eight plates, this number being quite sufficient for purposes oi explanation. Each plate has its arm or extension D. Consequently there are eight arms, or, rather, four pairs ot' arms D'. \\`ith this number ol.l plates the arms D are usually set four inches apart. Each pair ot' arms is connected to a curved bearing-piece, F, by a ileXible or pliable strap or ban d, s, of steel or other suitable material, which passes under the curved bearing-piece and has its upper ends connected the one to one arm and the other to the other arm of the pair. This connection conveniently can be made by furnishing the ends of the strap with eyes t, into which the ends of the evener-arms D hook. The curved bearing-piece is a peripherally` grooved wheel or pulley, as shown in full lines in the drawings, the groove serving to retain the strap or band s upon it, althouglnif desired, the upper part of this wheel, which practically is not Ain use, can'be eut away, as indicated by dotted lilies m in Fig. 2, in order to reduce weight and expense. The strap thus lt'orms a loop, in the bightof which the curved bearing-piece rests and is supported, the legs f ot' the loop extending up and being connected with the two evener-arms appropriate to them.

The diameter of the wheel or curved bearing-piece is equal to the distance separating thc two evener-arms of its pair, which in this instance is four inches. Thus the legs of the loop hang vertically all the time, and consequently bring no lateral strain upon other portions of the system.

There being four pairs ot evener-arms, D', there are in the topmost row or series four curved bearing-pieces, F, and four straps, s. In the row or series next below there are two curved bearing-pieces (which I will distinguish by the reference-letter F2) and two supporting-straps, s. In this second row each strap supports one of the curved bearingpieces, F2, and at its ends is connected to the centers or axes :r of one of the two pairs of curved bearing-pieces next above. This oonnection can be made in any suitable or Convenient way. In the drawings I have represented each wheel, F', as provided with a pendent yoke, 1r, hung on the axial pintle of the wheel and having below a hook, c, to engage the appropriate eye t of strap s. As the distance between the centers .fr of the pair of curved bearing-pieces or wheels F is eight inches, the diameter of the wheels or curved bearing-pieces F2111 the row next below should be eight inches. Next below the series or row F2, and supported :in a similar wa v,is the single wheel or curved bearing-piecev F3, Fig.

,which corresponds in position and function to what in a scale-lever system is termed the main-scale lever. This wheel or curved bearing-piece Ff is sixteen inches in diameter, that being the distance between the centers a: of the pieces F2. From the pintlex of piece F2 hangs the link a, which by strap b is eonnected to the seetor c ot' rock-shaft d, as hereinbefore stated. Through the intermediary of this system motion is transmitted to the vbelt-shipper from the evener-plates as efciently as it would be by the ordinary scale-lever system.

In case sixteen evener-platcs should be used, then the evcner-arms usually would be but two inches apart. In this event there would be four instead of three series of curved bearing-pieces-eight in the top row each two inches in diameter, four in the second row each four inches in diameter, two in the third row each eight inches in diameter, and one lowermost or main bearing-piece sixteen inches in diameter. These dimensions of course could be somewhat varied without departure from my invention; but the best results will be obtained by following the formula above given.

I prefer to finish oiii' the system with a single piece, F3, as represented in Fig. 2; but it would be feasible to dispense with this low- Y ermost piece and to employ in lieu thereof a cross-bar, y, provided with forked and hooked ends y', as seen in Figs. 4t and 5, these forked ends straddling the two bearing-pieces F2 and hooking over the axial pintles r of said pieces. On the center of the cross-bar is hung ay link, ,2, supported by a bearing-screw, z', which screws through the top of the lilik and hasits pointed or rounded end seated in a cup-like cavity in the top of the cross-bar, so that the link may hang straight at all times. The link is connected by strap b to the seetor of the rock-shaft, as in the other example. The screw can be used (like the similar screw heretofore employed in evener systems) to eect the initial adjustment of the belt upon the conedrums. This, however, is a well-,known expedient heretofore employed and forms no partl of my present improvement.

W'llat I claim herein as new, and of my own invention, is as follows:

IOO

IIO

l.` The combination, with the evener plates and arms, of the described system, of curved bearing-pieces and supporting-straps, each strap passing peripherally below and around its appropriate bearing-piece, the topmost series of straps being suspended by their ends from the evener-arms, and the straps of the other series beingsuspended from the centers of the curved bearing-pieces next above, substantially as and tor the purposes hereinbefore set forth.

2. The combination, with the evener plates and arms, the cone-drums, cone-drum belt and shipper therefor, and shipper-aetuating mechanism, of the described. system of curved bearing-plates and supportingstraps therefor,

each Strap passing perphemlly below and around its appropriate bearing-piece, the topmost series of straps being suspended by their ends from Jshe mener-arms, the straps of the other series being suspended from the centers of the bearing-pieces next above, and the lowf elmost o1l 111 ain bearing-piece bei 11g connected to the Shipper-mhmting' meohansm, subsnw j tia-Hy es and fmthepurposesherenbefore set g forth.

In testimony whereof I haYe hereunto Set my hand This 23th day of January, 1889.

* JAMES e. POTTER.

XVtneses:

W. W. BLODGETT,

ALLEN WHITEHEAD. 

